Le citazioni da Platone nel Saggio sopra gli errori popolari degli antichi di Giacomo Leopardi

Abstract

The essay examines some of Leopardi’s notes contained in the papers bundled with the Neapolitan manuscript (BNN, C. L. XIV) of the Saggio sopra gli errori popolari degli antichi (1815), in an effort to show how they may allow us to reconstruct his process of selecting the quotations from Plato that later flowed into the work. Focusing in particular on those from Phaedrus, Gorgias and the Republic, the aim is to identify the so-called “container books”, which have often become true modern interpretive “filters”, through which Leopardi gathers ancient source material and constructs thematic networks, within which he then inserts the selected passages. By recreating the complex game of mirrors between ancient and modern sources that takes place during the writing of the Saggio, this paper also attempts to show how this early work can be considered a true palimpsest text for future works by Leopardi.